I went to Albuquerque to take a course with American Clay. I am now a certified American Clay plasterer. I learned a bit of new things but nothing extraordinary. I do admit that I really liked the New Mexican food. The green chile sauces, flat enchiladas, and stuffed sopapillas were just yummy. I have actually taken to making this type of food at home and last night I put together two different types of beans to stuff sopapillas.

The recipe for sopapillas is actually fairly straightforward. It is a biscuit dough:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tarter

1 teaspoon salt

4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 cup plain hempmilk

vegetable oil for frying.

This recipe makes 16 fairly good size sopapillas. I usually cut it to a quarter for two.

I put about an inch of oil in a small cast iron pan and start to heat it. I put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together. I dust the counter with flour and knead twelve times. Then roll out the dough and cut into sixteen pieces (four if you quarter the recipe).

The oil should be about 400 degrees Fahrenheit when you are ready to fry. Drop the dough into the oil and count to 30. Flip, count to 30, and remove from the oil. If the sopapilla is too brown or does not puff, the oil is too hot.

I take one of these pillows of goodness, cut it in half, and fill it with a savory filling. I made a bean filling from leftovers that were in the refrigerator: about a quarter cup of black beans, a partial jar of chiliaquilla, a little chopped onion, chopped garlic, salt, a pinch of ground chipolte, and a pinch of smoked paprika.

I did save two for dessert. When the sopapillas are warm, they are just lovely with honey or honey, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. Or actually any combination that you wish.

We had happy tummies after dinner but the dinner was scarfed so fast that there was no time for pictures. There was a starfished Russell in the house.